Customizable media player with online/offline capabilities

ABSTRACT

An information dissemination system comprises an Internet-connected server adapted for gathering information from plural sources, and sorting the information according to subscriber preferences. The sorted information is transmitted via the Internet to a subscriber&#39;s Internet Appliance (IA) as electronic documents, where the documents are downloaded to a connected playback device. The playback device may be disconnected from the PC, and the information electronic documents rendered as speech to a speaker in the playback device by a text-to-speech system. In a preferred embodiment annotation is added at the Internet-connected server to control speech characteristics, such as inflection, upon playback. In some embodiments updates may be made by radio with the playback device disconnected from the IA.

The present application is a divisional application of patentapplication Ser. No. 09/558,698 entitled “Customizable Media Player withOnline/Offline Capabilities,” which was filed on Apr. 25, 2000 nowabandoned, which is a divisional of patent application Ser. No.09/005,562, filed Jan. 12, 1998 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,055,566,and which is incorporated herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is in the area of delivery of data andinformation, such as news updates and information clipping services, andhas particular application to apparatus and methods adapted forpresenting such data and information to subscribers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Broadcasting organizations such as television broadcast companies andradio broadcast companies provide an enormous amount of data availableto the public. For example, television broadcasts the news into millionsof households several times a day. Radio stations broadcast throughoutthe day and night on a continuous basis. Anyone owning a television orradio receiver can tune into a variety of pre-planned programming at anytime of day or night. In addition to these more traditional sources, theworld-wide computer network known as the Internet now provides a new andexpanding source of information for public access.

There are, however, several drawbacks to these sources for many people.One of the drawbacks of broadcast sources is related to the commercialnature of such sources. These systems are supported by advertising, andthere is typically repeated interruption of information and datadissemination for advertising by the sponsors that support theprogramming. Although some stations have become specialized such asoffering only the news or offering only financial programming, moststations rely heavily on advertising sponsors. Most broadcast sportingevents are also interrupted repeatedly in the same manner.

Another problem with conventional broadcasting is that generally contentis designed to appeal to a large cross-section of people, and in andcontent may also change with events within an organization, such aschange of ownership, and so forth. Also, some content may be entirelyabsent in some areas.

Still another limitation inherent to broadcasting has to do with rangeor reach of broadcast. For example, a typical radio station transmissionrange is limited to a purchased and localized territory with thetransmitted information carried on a certain frequency or channel thatis local to the community being serviced. When one travels beyond theboundary the frequency begins to carry the transmissions of anotherradio station that has license to broadcast on that frequency in thatarea, and so on. Similar boundaries exist with satellite servicesalthough on a much larger geographic scale.

The Internet, although quite different from broadcast sources, also haspotential problems for many users. For example, a user has to know whereto go on the Internet for specific sorts of information, and also mustact with a PC or other computer appliance that is capable of connectingto and searching for information on the Internet

There are Internet-based sources at the time of the present patentapplication that compile information and allow subscribers to specifycategories and types of information desired, and then deliver theinformation on demand to the subscriber. In these systems data istypically delivered as readable text, and the sources are typicallyquite limited. The biggest drawback to these sources is the limitationto using computer appliances that are capable of dealing with theInternet.

What is clearly needed is an Internet-based system and method whereincustomized (filtered per individual) digital information can be obtainedfrom a wide variety of media sources, including sources local tosubscribers, and delivered to a subscriber in a way that would eliminatetraditional boundaries and limitations associated with conventionalmedia services such as interruptions due to advertisement, geographiclocation of source media, and current state of the user (i.e. whether ornot the user is traveling, using a stationary Internet-connected PC,etc.).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention an informationdelivery system is provided, comprising an Internet-connected hostserver adapted to compile information from information sources and todeliver the information as text documents via the Internet; asubscriber's computer connected to the Internet and adapted to downloadthe text documents from the Internet-connected server; and a playbackunit connectable to the subscriber's computer by a data link. Theplayback unit is adapted to receive and store the text documents whileconnected to the subscriber's computer, and to render the text documentsas speech on demand when not connected to the subscriber's computer.

In some embodiments the information is sent to the host server from theinformation sources as text over one or more data links. The textdocuments may be delivered from the information sources to the hostserver over the Internet. Also in preferred embodiments the host serveris adapted to store subscriber preferences and to sort information fordelivery to subscribers according to the preferences. The host servermay also code text documents delivered to a subscriber in a manner tocontrol audio characteristics including inflection as the text documentsare rendered as speech in the playback unit. In still other embodimentsthere may be a radio broadcast system coupled to the host server and aradio receiving unit in the playback unit, the broadcast system andreceiving unit adapted to update information according to subscriberpreferences in the playback unit with the playback unit disconnectedfrom the subscriber's computer. Dynamic preference updates are providedin some embodiments.

The playback unit in a preferred embodiment comprises a data port forconnecting to a PC; a memory for storing text documents downloaded fromthe PC via the data port; a speaker; and a text-to-speech system adaptedto open text documents downloaded from the PC, and to render the textdocuments as speech via the speaker. User inputs are provided forcontrolling selection of documents for playback, and start and stopfunctions for playback. In some embodiments the playback unit furthercomprises an LCD display adapted to display control functions foroperating the playback unit. In addition the playback unit may have adisplay for displaying key information and for selection of controlfunctions. The portable playback unit is preferably battery-powered andrechargeable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 is an overview diagram of an Internet-based media delivery systemand presentation device according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the presentation device of FIG. 1 accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is an overview diagram of an Internet-based information gatheringand delivery system 107 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. In system 107 a playback device 110 is connected to asubscriber's PC 123 for the purpose of collecting information from thePC while connected. The PC shall be deemed only as an example of anInternet Appliance. Any other such device could be substituted for thePC. The same device may be disconnected from the PC and used for playingback to a subscriber the information collected from the PC whileconnected. The connection may be by any one of several methods, such asby a serial port cable 111 to PC 123, infrared, wireless etc. Playbackdevice 110 may also be adapted to reside in a cradle that can be part ofPC 123 or connected to PC 123. The cradle (not shown) may also serve torecharge playback device 110 as well as to provide for downloadinginformation to playback device 110. Playback device 110 plays back datathat is downloaded, in this case from the Internet, and may be engagedat PC 123 or removed and carried away.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, PC 123 is a subscriber's PC and hasconnection via a link 101 to the Internet represented by cloud 100. Line101 may be plain old telephone service (POTS) or Internet ServicesDigital Network (ISDN), or any other link capable of Internet connectionknown in the art, including wireless connections.

Three media sources represented here as radio stations 109 a, 109 b, and109 c are connected to a host server 120 via a digital network 108.Sources of information in embodiments of the present invention may bequite varied, including TV as well as radio stations, and are limitedonly in that the sources need to be capable of providing information toserver 120 in a form that the server may use. Digital network 108 isrepresentative of any digital link by which suitable information may betransferred to server 120. For example each media source may have it'sown Internet dial-up connection. Digital network 108 may be replicatedalong with host server 120 and provided or distributed to varyinggeographic regions to facilitate connection of smaller more localizedmedia sources. It will be apparent to one with skill in the art that awide variety of media sources may be used. In this embodiment radiostations are shown because of a wide variety of content available andbecause they are largely an untapped source for transmission of dataover the Internet. Further, radio stations can provide local content nottypically available with other services.

Following the example of radio stations as information sources forembodiments of the invention, in this case the service provider,operating host 120 contracts with the radio stations for provision ofuseful data. In most cases, a radio station receives information fromtheir own sources (wire services, programming sources, and the like) intext form. This information is read by announcers. After the radiostation uses the information, there is typically no further use for theinformation. The present invention provides a new and valuable use forsuch information; specifically, to be sold to the service provider inthe present invention, sorted, and downloaded to subscriber's PCs to beloaded onto a device 110 to be later related to a subscriber.

In the embodiment shown each source 109 a-c sends text information toserver 120. Host server 120 is capable of organizing and sorting theinformation based on individual subscriber preferences stored in adatabase (not shown) accessible to host server 120. Each subscriber tothe host's service provides preferences to the host to be used asfilters for sorting information for the particular subscriber. Thesoftware filters are used by the service to decide what types orcategories of information will be compiled for each individualsubscriber. Filters in a preferred embodiment can be pre-set by eachsubscriber at the time of subscription and modified by the subscriberthereafter. For example, a subscriber that receives information fromradio station 109 a may elect to receive only certain portions ofoffered content such as stories pertaining to political events, but notstories pertaining to entertainment, and so on.

Media sources may include regional sources as well as local sources, asdescribed above, as long as they have a network or Internet connectionand a means to provide the data to a host server such as server 120. Forexample, if a subscriber resides on the west coast, then a list ofsources that are near him could be provided for local content. Regionalsources, as well as local sources in other locations or geographicalpoints of interest to the subscriber, would also be available. By addingserver capability to many strategic locations, a great number of mediasources could be brought into play and made accessible to eachsubscriber. In fact, many hundreds of media sources covering manydifferent locations could be made available for a subscriber's choice.Media sources providing content of a special interest can also beutilized. For example, local police activity and perhaps weatherinformation normally available on a citizen-band radio can be offered,etc.

While playback device 110 is engaged in subscriber's PC 123, on aperiodic basis filtered information from server 120 is transferred tothe subscriber's PC via the Internet and downloaded to playback device110. In a preferred embodiment this is set up to operatesemi-transparently to the subscriber each time the subscriber connectsto the Internet for any purpose. Such Internet connection schemes areknown in the art and may be implemented by those with skill in the artwithout undue experimentation.

The primary purpose of playback device 110 is to store the filteredinformation provided by server 120, and to play this information to thesubscriber at opportune times. A subscriber will not typically monitorthe downloaded information while the playback device is connected to hisPC, although this “in-place” made may be used if desired. In a preferreduse, a subscriber, when leaving his or her PC for a period of time willunplug the playback device a take it along. The subscriber may leavework and have a long drive home, or may just go to lunch, and so forth.The present invention in the embodiment described makes valuable use ofthis otherwise wasted transit time.

A playback device 110 is shown in FIG. 1 in the “unplugged” state,indicating a device that a subscriber has disengaged from the PC andcarried away. The playback device has a speaker (or speakers) 113, and atext-to-speech system for converting stored text to speech. In oneembodiment the device has a headphone jack so a subscriber may listen tothe downloaded information without disturbing others or without beingdisturbed by outside noise sources. There is also a start-stop controlinterface so the subscriber may start and stop the playback at will. Nowthe subscriber may listen to the filtered and compiled informationprovided by the subscription service, transmitted to the subscriber'sPC, and downloaded to the playback device while connected to the PC. Thesubscriber thus may make valuable use of transit time (or any other timethe subscriber wishes to devote to the process).

As a very simple example, a subscriber may provide preferences for localweather, weather at a second location, and road and traffic conditionsbetween the two points, including accident reports. The subscriberstores this information during the day, newer information replacingolder information during passage of time, and then takes the playbackdevice when starting home. The playback information is very useful tomaximize travel efficiency and safety for the trip home. It will readilybe seen that there are a multitude of similar uses for such a system.

Text to speech synthesizers are well known in the art, and mayimplemented in such a device as playback unit 110 without undueexperimentation. The text to speech capability also provides aconvenience not available to a person who simply tunes his radio to alocal station. That is that the user of the playback device may replayinformation not fully understood at the first pass.

In a unique improvement to the text to speech capability, in oneembodiment coding is provided with the text indicating inflection andother speech enhancement to improve the otherwise monotone quality ofmost text to speech renditions. Such coding enhancement may be providedat server 120 and software in the playback device recognizes the codeand provides suitable alteration of the audio renditions. Other types ofelectronic files may also be sent, that are suitable for playing anextended multimedia device. There may also be a combination ofvoice/data or video/data files, for example.

In a further enhancement of the system and the playback device, there isan antenna 114 associated with playback device 110. In a preferredembodiment the antenna is removable. Now in a removed state, playbackdevice 110 b can be used in the field and further has the capability ofreceiving updates from a wireless transmitter 122 via a broadcast signal106. Broadcast signal 106 may be customized or tailored to theindividual subscriber via methods known in the art of wirelesstransmission such as addressing techniques, encryption keys and so on,including logging on of the wireless device. For example, to provide thesubscriber with a level of privacy, an encryption key may be downloadedto playback device 110 a in anticipation of receiving the updates in thefield after it is removed from the subscriber's computer.

Wireless transmitter 122 is connected to an update server 121 via adigital connection 105. Update server 121 is dedicated to providingupdates of information to those subscribers who are out in the field.This arrangement assumes that when a subscriber is using playback device110 in the field, a method for the determination of that particularstate is known to host server 120. This may be accomplished, in oneembodiment, by a signal sent to host server 120 from playback device 110via wireless transmitter 122 through digital connection 105 to updateserver 121, and through digital connection 104. In another embodiment,playback device 110 has the capability of connecting to the Internet inmuch the same way as an Internet-capable cellular phone using wirelesstechnology. In yet another embodiment, a brief connection to theInternet is made from PC 123 when playback device 110 disengaged and acode is sent to host server 120 indicating that the subscriber is now inthe field. Similarly, a code could be sent again when the subscriberreconnects playback device 110 to PC 123 indicating that playback device110 is no longer in the field. In still another embodiment, up-dates maybe sent simultaneously via the Internet and wireless transmission tosubscribers regardless of whether or not they are in the field. It willbe apparent to one with skill in the art that there are many differentpossibilities regarding the receiving of updated information to playbackdevice 110 without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention, many of which have already been described.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of playback device 110 of FIG. 1 according toan embodiment of the present invention. A port 200 is provided for thepurpose of connecting playback device 110 to PC 123 of FIG. 1. Anysuitable connection method may be used such as a serial port connectionas described with reference to FIG. 1.

An integrated microcontroller 210 is connected via internal bus 204 to aheadset port 202 and an antenna port 201. Microcontroller 210 includesall of the CODEC and radio circuitry necessary to communicate with theseports, and such circuitry is well-known in the art. Ports 202 and 201are input-output (I/O) ports commonly used in the art. Flash memorymodules 211 and 212 are connected to internal bus 204. Flash memorymodules 211 and 212 may be permanently installed modules or removablemodules such as well-known memory cards. In a preferred embodiment flashmemory is used, however, other types of non-volatile memory may besubstituted or used in combination with flash memory.

Playback device 110 may be powered in a number of different ways knownin the art. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, arechargeable battery is used. In another embodiment, a cradle or station(not shown) may be provided for stationing and connecting playbackdevice 110 to PC 123 with power provided from the host. A combination ofpower source may also be used with power coming from the host whileplayback device 110 a is stationed and battery power taking over whenremoved from PC 123, etc. There are many methods known in the art forproviding power to computer peripherals.

A cradle adapted for stationing playback device 110, as described above,in various embodiments serves several purposes. For example, a batterycharging unit may be installed in such a cradle so that playback device110 may be charged while not in use. In one embodiment, the cradle couldbe removable with an attachment adapted to being plugged into anotherpower source such as a car cigarette lighter jack, or a car stereocassette player, etc. In yet another embodiment, a stationary cradle mayhave it's own memory and circuitry allowing it to interact with hostserver 120 of FIG. 1 so that information can be downloaded independentof playback device 110 and then transferred to playback device 110 awhen interfaced.

A button panel 203 comprises four buttons and is connected by I/Ocircuitry to internal bus 204. These four buttons from top to bottom aremarked SK (skip), MK (mark), CH (channel), and T (topic). Buttons onpanel 203 are used to control media presentation and to send filtermodifications to host server 120 of FIG. 1. For example, button SK isused to send a filter indicating that the particular content presentedwas skipped by the subscriber so that similar content should not beincluded in future presentations. Button MK is used to send a filterindicating that the particular content presented was marked by thesubscriber so that similar content should be included in futurepresentations. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, moredetailed filter editing can be performed by a subscriber at a web sitedesigned for that purpose. Button CH is a channel selector button andbutton T is a topic selector button to be used within a channel. Thepurpose of providing selector buttons to player device 110 serves toallow a subscriber to select which content will be played first and soon. It will be apparent to one with skill in the art that additionalbuttons providing more features can be added without departing from thespirit and scope of the present invention such as a button that wouldallow a subscriber to skip content without sending a filtermodification, and so on, and controls for replaying portions ofpresentations

In one embodiment a liquid crystal display (LCD) 213 is provided andconnected to internal bus 204 through a display driver for the purposeof allowing a subscriber to view content such as the channel selected,status information regarding wireless updates and so on, as well asmultimedia files. It will be apparent to one with skill in the art thatother display technologies can be substituted, without departing fromthe spirit of the invention. In one embodiment, certain material may bedisplayed graphically. In another embodiment, financial information,sports scores and the like may be flashed on LCD 213 while playbackdevice 110 is in use. It will be apparent to one with skill in the artthat various features and capabilities could be added to playback device110 without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. For example, in one embodiment, an E-mail client could beused to download E-mail from the Internet while in the field. In anotherembodiment, a video client could be used to view video clips on LCD 213,and so on.

It will be apparent to one with skill in the art that software controlroutines written for various embodiments of the present invention may beproprietary applications created by a hosting company or similarapplication standards known in the art without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention. It will also be apparent to one withskill in the art that the method and apparatus of the present inventioncan be practiced on any wide area network (WAN) such as an X.25proprietary data network, etc.

There are many possible embodiments in which the method and apparatus ofthe present invention may be practiced such as the application of FIG. 1wherein playback device 110 is used in conjunction with the Internet. Inanother embodiment, playback device 110 could be adapted for use on acorporate network or a local area network. Similarly, features andcapabilities may be added to playback device 110 without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the present invention such as E-mail capacityand the like. The spirit and scope of the present invention is limitedonly by the claims that follow.

1. A system for delivering emails to a user, comprising: anetwork-connected server for receiving and processing the emails; a database at the network server for storing user preferences used by thenetwork-connected server for processing the emails; a wirelesstransmission facility in communication with the network-connectedserver, for transmitting the emails; and a portable playback deviceenabled for connection to a user computer and receiving the emailstransmitted by the transmission facility and to display the emails astext to the user; wherein the server transmits emails to the usercomputer for download to the portable device via the network while thedevice is connected to the user computer, and upon disconnection of theportable device from the user computer the server is instructed bysignal sent from either the user computer or from the playback devicethat the user is now in the field, and the server transmits the emailsdirectly to the portable device via the wireless transmission facilitywhile the user is in the field.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein thenetwork is the Internet network.
 3. A method for delivering multimediaemails to a user, comprising the steps of: (a) receiving the multimediaemails on a network by a network-connected server, (b) storing userpreferences at a database at the network-connected server; (c)processing the emails at the network-connected server by accessing theuser preferences; (d) transmitting individual ones of the emails overthe network by the network-connected server; (e) receiving thetransmitted emails at a user computer for download to a portableplayback device connected to the user computer, and displaying theemails on a display of the playback device; and (f) editing the userpreferences via direct communication from the playback device; whereinthe network-connected server transmits emails to the user computer fordownload to the portable device via the network while the device isconnected to the user computer, and upon disconnection of the portabledevice from the user computer the network-connected server is instructedby code sent from the user computer that the user is now in the field,and the server transmits the emails directly to the portable device by awireless transmission facility while the user is in the field.
 4. Themethod of claim 3 wherein the network is the Internet network.